Process of making soap powder



Oct. 30, 1923.

PROCESS OF MAKING SOAP POWDER Filed June 28 1920 JOHN cnnaemnn me, oncnr'caeo, rumors, assrenon T0 'rnn c common 011. 001mm, or

rnoonss or maxme soar rownna.

To all w/wm z't may concern:

Be it known that I, JonN (3.. INGRAM,- a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the count of Cook, State of Illi- 11018, have invente certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Soap Powder; and 1' do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. v

This invention relates to the production of a dry soap powder from hot soap aste containing sodium carbonate, and the l' e. In the common processes of making soap powders, such as washingand cleaning powders, which contain sodium carbonate or other substances used for the'purpose in addition to soap and water, the mass is first cooled, or is allowed to cool spontaneously, to or below the crystallizing point, and is then disintegrated. Durin the cooling operation, the water contained in the hot soap paste combines with the sodium carbonate.

to form one or more crystalline h drates, and the soap paste is, by the crystal 1zat1on and hydration, converted into a substantially dry state, that is, practically free from uncombined water. Ordinarily, removal of water by evaporation is not necessary or desired, unless the soap paste itself contains an excess of water. That is, the conversion of a soap aste containing sodium carbonate and the ike into a day roduct is essentially a crystallization an hydration operation, as distinguished from drying by evaporation.

The present invention is distin 'shed from processes heretofore .used for t e production of soap powder, from soap paste containing sodium carbonate in that the disintegration of the soap paste precedes the cooling operation, or is efiected durmg the preliminary part of the cooling operation, and the disintegrated soap is obtained directly in the form of a dry powder.

According to the present invention, the hot soap paste containing sodluin carbonate subjected to an atomizing or spraying operation, and thereby converted into' the form of small particles, and such particles are subjected to the coolin action of a current of air or other suitab e gas. The cooling action ot the air and the'passage' of the- CAN YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Application and June as, 1920. Serial no. easier.

particlesLtherethrough are so regulated that the part1cles are cooled below the temperature of mclpient crystallization, so that they are collected in a substantially dry and non-sticking condition. The finely divided particles so obtained can be directly packaged. The improved process of the present invention is well adapted for the produc' tion of a dry powder in largequantities and in a continuous manner, even with seasonable variations in weather, such as humidity and temperature.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanyin drawing showing one form of apparatus aapted for the practice of the invention. In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1 shows, in a somewhat conventional and iagrammatic manner an arrangement of apparatus adapted for the practice of the invention; and a Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of one form of nozzle. i 'In the accompanying drawing, a suitable supply tank-tor the soap mixture is indicated at 1. It may be provided with a slow moving mixer consisting of a number of ing an air controlling valve 5 therein, with the. spray nozzle 4. A pressure gauge 7 is arranged to show the pressure in the nozzle,

blades fastened to a horizontal shaft. It is so that the blowing or atomizing operation can be suitably regulated or controlled. The flow of soap is regulated by the soap valve 6, arrangedv near the nozzle, and operated by a handle extending through the wall of the atomizing chamber. The atomizing nozzles; is arranged with in a lar vertically arranged chamber, and is. su phed with a current of air by means of the ain or blower 8 which discharges the air through the passage 9 and opening 10 into the blowing tower. During hot weather the air can be cooled, by suitable cooling means (not shown), such as an air washing system, before it isv introduced into the cooling tower, or the air can be otherwise suitably conditioned.

In the. operation of the apparatus, the paste or soap mixture is first produced in a hot molten date. This mixture contains, as

above noted, soap, water, soda ash, etc, and it may be of compositions such as are commonly used for soap owders containing sodium carbonate, and t e like. In genera it is desirable to have a somewhat larger amount of moisture in the paste than is esired in the final dry owder, to make upfor such loss of moisture y evaporation as takes place during the spraying and cooling operation.

This paste can'be compounded in mixing apparatus such as are commonly passed, an the mixed paste can then be an plied to the supply tank 1. This paste can aerated by beating in air or b treatment with air under pressure during t e mixing operation, and the com ressed air contained in the soap paste wil promote the subsequent spra. inig operation. So also, further amounts 0 a r can be incorporated in the pum 3, and the soap thereby further aerated fore it is atomized, and the atomizing operation corres ondingly promoted. a

ompressed air, from a suitable source, is passed through the air pressure tank 2 where equalization of pressure takes 1place and where condensed moisture an be trapped and the com ressed air is an plied from this tank at a suitable pressure o e. g., 75- pounds per square inch, to the atomizing nozzle.

One suitable form of atomizing nozzle is illustrated in Fig. 2 and is made up or the tee 11 to which the air pipe 12 and paste pipe 13 are connected. The discharge is through a spray head it, of restricted size. The paste is forced into the spray nozzle against a vertical stream of air entering from the top, and the soap is blown down through the nozzle against the splashdisc 15 and is broken up into sem aratively small particles. Thepressure of t e air and the supply of soap are so regulated that the operation is continuous and the desired degree of subdivision is efiected. it is important to obtain a proper disintegration and the formation of small. particles, and a pro r regulation of the cooling operation, so t at the particles will be cooled a temperature below the crystallizing point ofthe mixture, and so that no large lumps will be ermitted to form by collecting the particles before they are properly cooled. The cooling and crystallization should thus be carried to such a point that the powder is not sticky or sufficiently soft to form lumps in the packa The action which takes place in th'e'nozzle illustrated is, as I believe, a jetting action, due to a rapid and intermittent forcing of minute pistons of soap paste outwardly through the nozzle by the air jet, and the further disintegration of these particles by the splash disc. The disintegrating action is promoted air escaping mospheric which the air and soap are discharged from the ray nozzle. Referrin to Figure 2 it will seen that the soap is od into a chamber, the element 11, having a restricted outlet as clearly shown. Because of this restricted outlet, a jetting or pumping action of the nozzle results. The soap is blown against the lower end of the chamber by the blast of fluid under pressure, producing a momenta outlet. T us a rapidly alternating series of interruptions and forward movements is produced. The subdivision of the paste is thus edected at the outset of the cooling operation. The articles of soap paste are cooled in their ownward passage against the current of air to a temperature such that the desired crystallization and state of dryness is secured. The cooling of the soap aste particles is brought about in part y the expansion of the compressed air from the spray nozzle, in part by evaporation of water from the soap paste particles, which evaporation may amount to from 2 to 5%, in part by radiation, etc.

The powder produced according to 'the present invention consists of particles or grains of small and fairly uniform size. The size of the particles can, however, be

somewhat varied, and may be somewhat.

larger than would, strictly speaking, be called a powder.

I claim:

1. A method of producing a soap powder, which consists in feeding soap paste and gaseous fluid under pressure to a common chamber having a restricted outlet, in such a manner as whereby to cause the soap to be ejected from the chamber in rapid alternatrons of stoppage and movement.

2; The method of producing a soap powder, which comprises disintegrating a soa paste, and cooling the disintegrated part1- cle to a temperature below that of crystallization while the particles are suspended in air in a segregated condition, whereby to provide such particles with a surface or skin of dry soap before the particles are massed, tohprevent sticking of the particles to each ot or.

der, which comprises atomizing or spraying a soap paste into an upward current of a coolin gas, and efiecting the cooling and crysta lization of said particles while passing downwardly through f said gas and while suspended in such gas in segregated relation whereby to rovide such particles with a surface or skm of dry soap before the particles are massed.

4. The method of producing a soap powder, which comprises supplying a soap paste stoppage or plugging of the i 3. The method of producing a soap pow- V containingsodium carbonate or the liketo an atomizing nozzle, disintegrating the soa paste by means of compressed an at 'suc nozzle, thereby subjecting the disintegrated soap particles to a reliminary cooling operation, passing t e resulting particles through an upwardly moving stream of cooling gas whereby to urface cool the particle while they are in sus ension and in segregated relation, and regu ating the 0 eration so that the particles are cooled be ow the temperature of crystallization while passing through the cooling gas, whereby the particles are obtained in a substantially dry and non-sticking condition.

5. The method of producing a soap powder, which comprises incorporating with soap paste containing sodium carbonate and the like an amount of water in excess of that desired in the soap powder, spraying the resulting paste into a current of a cooling gas, and cooling the particles below the temperature of crystallization and removing the excess water therefrom while passing through the cooling gas, whereby the soap particles are obtained in the form of a substantially dry owder combined with the desired amount 0 water.

6. A method of producing a soap powder, from soap paste containin sodium carbonate or the like, which consists in subjecting the paste to the action of a jet of fluid under pressure whereby to disintegrate the paste into relatively small particles, and preliminaril cool the disintegrated particles, passing the disintegrated partic es through a current of cooling as moving in the opposite direction to t e articles whereby to delay the particles in t eir movement and to cool the surface of the particles below the temperature of crystallization, and to provide them with, a surface or skin of cooled soap while they are segregated.

7 The method of producing a soap powder, which comprises supplying a soap aste containing basic alkali metal compoun s to an atomizing nozzle, disintegrating the sea paste by means of compressed air at suc nozzle, thereby subjecting the disintegrated soap particles to a relimmary cooling operation, passing t 0 resulting particles through an upwardly moving stream of cooling as, whereby to surface cool the articles w ile they are in sus ension an in segregated relation, and regu ating the operation so that the particles are cooled below the temperature of crystallization while pasing through the cooling gas, whereby the particles are obtained in a substantially dr and non-sticking condition n testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN CAVELLE men 

